


The Seed

by TheDragonKat



Series: Vairgo Week 2020 [4]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Campfires, Hugo does not like how things went in Corona, M/M, Sad Varian (Disney), Salt, Self-Hatred, Varian Has Issues (Disney), Varian's past, boys gets to see another side of the other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonKat/pseuds/TheDragonKat
Summary: Hugo knows that Varian does not have the best opinion of himself. But does not know why. One night around the campfire, Varian tells his story. Hugo gets to see Varian's darker side and Varian gets to see Hugo's caring side.
Relationships: Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Series: Vairgo Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957639
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	The Seed

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on the comic from dr. Chalk. At least what happened afterwards. I put the events sometime in the middle of their journey. The boys are now friends but still have a lot to learn about each other.
> 
> sorry for bad grammar and spelling

Hugo was looking at the campfire. It was his turn for watch, but his mind was elsewhere. Ever since he and Varian saw that mirror, he could not forget what Varian said he saw. He did not know what the mirror showed so he had no reason to lie. Why did Varian see himself? Varian seemed so happy. Did he deep down hate himself so much that is what he hates the most? Hugo was not the best with emotions. He wanted to ask but how does one go about this. Soon Varian comes out of his tent.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something before you head to bed?” Varian asks as he sits next to Hugo. 

“Sure. What is your question?” Hugo answers. He wants to know what Varian wants to ask him that he is asking in the middle of the night.

“I can’t stop thinking about that mirror. You said there was an inscription on it but did not tell me what is said or let me read it. “ Varian says looking at Hugo. Hugo felt his heart drop. He did not know what to do. He could lie but that felt wrong. Plus, it felt wrong to lie given what the subject was. He did not tell Varian at the time to spare his feelings but now that Hugo has had time to think, it might be better to talk. If Varian hates himself that much than maybe talking about it would change what he saw in that mirror. If he ever went back to it.

“Okay. I will tell you. I will warn you, it is not pretty” Hugo sighs. 

“I understand. I just need to know. It is eating me up” Varian says. Hugo knows that Varian does not understand, and he knows how hard this will hit. Hugo takes a deep breath. “It read “Through the candor of the mirror, discover the object of your utmost contempt” Hugo remembers those words well. He doubts he will ever forget. Varian’s face fell.

“What” Varian says confused.

“You are smart. You should know what those words mean. But if you want me to spell it out then fine” Hugo looks at the fire. “It means that when you look into that mirror you will see what you find not worth your time, has no value and deserves to be hated. I saw upper class Iron Kingdom snobs. “ he looks back to Varian. Varian went to look at the fire and moved a bit away from Hugo. The fire casted a shadow on Varian’s face and his hair was covering his eyes.

“So, you know?” Varian says in a tired tone. He doesn't try to defend himself or lie. He knows Hugo will not believe that. 

“Yes. And if you are okay with me asking, why?” Hugo asks worried about Varian. While their relationship was rocky at the start, he liked to think he and Varian had a strong friendship bond now. It just made the betrayal part sting more. 

“That is a long story. You sure you want to hear it?” Varian asks, Ruddiger curling up on his lap. 

“Yes. Cheese, alert us to anything approaches” Hugo orders. Cheese salutes then heads off and does circle around the camp.

“I was born in the small village of Old Corona. As the name suggests, it was the old capital of Corona before some royal moved it to its current place for reasons not important to the story. My dad is the current leader of Old Corona. So, you can imagine he was pretty busy. He did his best to raise me and do his job as leader. And at the start, people were very understanding. After my mom disappeared, they knew dad had to focus on me. As I got older, dad started to leave me alone more often” Varian starts.

“I was always a curious child. At first it was not a problem. It was cute even” Varian laughs. “But then I got into alchemy. It was small at first but as I grew and was left alone more and more. My experiments got more and more dangerous. What I wanted more than anything as a kid was for my dad to be proud of me? So, I wanted to make something that would help everyone” he gave a little smile before his face fell. “As you know, success only happens after you fail a hundred times. And my failures were bad. At first, the villagers were annoyed but forgiving. But slowly they became less and less forgiving. My dad was getting more and more frustrated with me. But I kept trying. Wanting to help people and make my dad proud. Something had to work. It just had to” a few tears are seen rolling down his face.

“I am sure you have heard about the lost princess.” Varian says.

“Yeah. Remember your king, sent troops to the Iron Kingdom, well all kingdoms, to see if the princess was there. I remember being so scared. Don’t tell the others I said that” Hugo says. Varian locks his lips and throws away the key.

“Well, she was found as you know and guess what. One day, she came to see me. I was so excited. Then I got to see my idol, Flynn Rider” Varian sounds excited as he explains. Hugo chose to be quiet about his time meeting Flynn Rider. This was Varian’s story time. “Turns out his real name is Eugene.” Varian continues. Hugo now realizes who this Eugene person Varian talks is. ‘Well that reunion will be great’ Hugo thinks.

“Of course, I messed up again. And blew up my village with my invention. Dad was so disappointed in me” Varian sighs. The more Hugo hears the more he feels. He can see why Varian does not have the best self-imagine. “Then the black rocks appeared.” Varian explains. Hugo has heard of the black rocks. Donella was very interested in them but they were too far away and too hard to get a sample from. The rocks disappeared before she could really get a good look at them.

“At first, they were not that bad. I studied them and even used them to help me make an invention for a science expo” Varian explains.

“St. Croix was the judge wasn’t he.” Hugo says.

“How did you know?” Varian asks.

“Saw him in Iron Kingdom. He is a fraud. He kisses up to the royalty and nobles by picking the winner based on what they think should be seen as great science.” Hugo explains.

“Well, I am never entering again. “ Varian grumbles a bit until he goes back to his story. “Anyways, I should tell you that my crush was Cass.” he reveals.

“That scary sword lady, we met a while back. Goggles… don’t think she is interested in men” Hugo snickers. Varian blushes from embarrassment.

“I know that now. But I was fourteen and still thought I was straight” Varian buries his face into Ruddiger. 

“Sorry. Please continue” Hugo holds back his laugh,

“So, I made an invention that made a new element and named it after Cass. She promised she would help but being a guard was more important. Which is understandable, that was her dream, but I was left scrambling to find a partner that could help me. Well, one almost death later, Cass gave me the ribbon. And I told them about the rocks. Turns off they knew about that them” Varian continues. Hugo did not like how causally Varian brushed off almost dying. Now that Hugo thought about it, Varian always did seem more worried about others the few times, their lives were in danger. Hugo was also very pissed at Cass for breaking a promise and wonders if that is why Varian avoids it.

“I showed them the rocks and the princess said we will work together. But I had to keep it a secret. Since the king forbad the princess from talking about the rocks. So, I promised to keep it a secret” Varian goes over.

“That is dumb. If the king knows it then shouldn’t he be talking about it. I get wanting to learn more before causing panic. But from what you said, he does not want that info from getting out. And I thought Iron Kingdom nobles were the worst. “ Hugo was shocked. Varian just gave a dark chuckle as an answer. Hugo was getting worried.

“Well the black rocks were getting worse. It was getting not safe in Old Corona. A kid was almost impaled in front of me. If I did not see the rocks coming and moved fast enough” Varian shutters. “Well good thing, the rocks only got the kid’s teddy bear” he pets Ruddiger to keep himself grounded.

“Oh my god” Hugo puts his hand in front of his mouth. He never knew how bad the black rocks were. “The king had to say something right. Even the royalty of the Iron Kingdom would say something. So the nobles and rich can be safe and fuck everyone else but still.” he asks. He does not like the frown on Varian’s face. 

“My dad told the village that he will report what has happened to the king. I asked to tag along, and dad said yes. “ Varian explains. Hugo gets the feeling things don’t go well. “We went to the palace. Dad did not let me talk to the king, but I listened in. Dad lied. He said we need more land for farming” Hugo was right, but he did not think it was like that. ‘What is wrong with the adults’ Hugo thinks. “I told the princess about it and she promised me that she would help me” Varian spat the word “promise” like it was poison. ‘I was wrong. This is the promise that made Varian avoid saying. I am scared to find out what happened?’ Hugo thinks.

“Well we went back, and I had to do something. People were getting hurt. I couldn’t just stand around.” Varian sounded desperate. Hugo knows what a kind heart Varian had, and it seemed like he always had one. It must have been so hard for Varian. “I started to see if any chemicals reacted to the rocks. Oh, forgot to mention early, but the rocks glowed when the princess got near them.” he snapped his fingers. ‘So, the princess is connected to the rocks, is that why her dad did not want people to know about them’ Hugo thinks.

“Well got one to have a reaction. It exploded and did nothing to the rocks but hey something. Dad comes up and sees me messing with the rocks. We fight about him lying but unknown to use at the time, that chemical had another reaction that on delay” Varian sounded broken. Hugo wanted to comfort Varian but did not know how. “This amber looking rock started to form and was going to trap me, but dad pushed me out of the way and was trapped. I did not know what to do. I remembered that the princess caused a reaction, so I rushed out to get her.” Ruddiger was now rubbing his face on Varian’s cheek to calm him. Hugo could not imagine what that was like. To see your parent sacrifice himself to save you.

“Unfortunately, there was a sudden blizzard. Remember this blizzard for later” Varian tells Hugo. Hugo nods wondering what was so important about the blizzard. But right now, he was worried about Varian. He knows that Varian survives since he is here in front of him, but he knows that blizzard can be dangerous.

“I ran off into the blizzard as fast as I could. My dad needed help. I don’t know how long it took but I got to the capitol. I rushed to the palace and went to the princess. I begged her to come save my dad. But the king and queen were out so she was the only royal in the palace. The blizzard was dangerous, and the princess needed to think of the larger group. But at the time, I was not thinking about that” Varian sobs. Hugo might hate nobles but even knew that the princess made the right call. But he felt the pain Varian must have felt back then.

“Things only go from downhill from here.” Varian sighs. Hugo’s eyes widen. ‘This is when things get bad. All of that was just set up for this’ Hugo thinks. “The royal advisor saw me and thought I was attacking the princess, so he called the guards on me” Varian looks down. 

“The princess said you weren’t right?” Hugo begs for that to have happened, but Varian just shook his head.

“She just said for them to not hurt me. I was thrown back in the blizzard.” Varian pets Ruddiger

“WHAT!?!” Hugo yells jumping up.

“Quiet. Want to wake Nuru and Yong up?” Varian asks as he gets up and checks to see they were still asleep.

“Sorry. Just why?” Hugo takes a few deep breaths and sits back down. Varian sees that both are still asleep and sits back down by the campfire.

“I think they thought I would seek refuge somewhere nearby.” Varian picks Ruddiger off the ground.

“You ran back to your dad” Hugo sighs as Varian nods.

“I made it back and dad was trapped completely in amber. He wrote me a note but that was also trapped in the amber. The amber was stronger than the black rocks.” Varian was on the verge of tears and Hugo’s heart shattered again. “I was so pissed off and wanted my dad. I was not thinking clearly but I swore that I would save my dad and make everyone pay” Varian could not continue from crying. Reliving the memories was hard on him.

“Listen, I can see where this is going. You can stop if this is too much. “ Hugo gets up and sits next to Varian. Varian shook his head.

“No. This is the first time I talked about this. I need to tell someone. This has been weighing me down since I was 14.” Varian calms himself. 

“Okay. But if it gets too much, please don’t force yourself” Hugo softly says as he runs his fingers through Varian’s hair.

“Everyone else left the village to go to the new land the king gave them once the blizzard stopped. Rapunzel never came to check on me. Soon guards surrounded me. They were watching me under orders from the king. “ Varian leans into Hugo.

“Why? Didn’t the princess explain you did not attack her” Hugo was really starting to hate this princess.

“No. The king was using the rumor to have a reason for the guards to be there. But they were after a scroll my dad had. That explained the black rocks could only be destroyed by the Sundrop” Varian explains.

“Wait, the Sundrop is real?” Hugo asked.

“Yeah. It is real. Was used to save the queen all those years ago” Varian nods. “Anyways, I needed to get the scroll out of my home. So, I used a kite to send a message to the princess. I told her I found a way to stop the black rocks and she listened to me. She got the scroll and was chased by the guards. Rapunzel now wanted answers for what her dad was doing. Good thing was guards were gone and knew Rapunzel would keep the scroll. “ Varian explains. Hugo was impressed that Varian was able to figure that all out. “Then, I found a small bottle floating in the river not long after. Did some tests and found out it was a mood potion, makes one act the opposite of how they usually act. If you had it, you would be insecure. “ he says.

“What was that doing in a river?” Hugo asks.

“From what I heard, the blacksmith, Xavier, saw that Cass, Eugene, and Rapunzel were fighting a lot and decided to give them the potion to see that their personalities are what make them special. Or something like that.” Varian explains.

“That is dumb. Why would that work? I don’t think switching me and Nuru personalities would make us become friends faster.” Hugo rolls his eyes.

“Xavier is nice, but he has his moments.” Varian shakes his head. “Well I found a way to make the mood potion and changed it so it would be a truth potion. The person would feel compelled to answer any question they are asked truthfully. “ he looks at the fire.

“Wow. You really made that. How long did it take?” Hugo asks. Varian holds up one finger. “A week” he says in disbelief. Varian shakes his head.

“One day to get the mixture right. Though I did have a few more days of testing it. Need to know how much it took on its own to work and how much to put it cookies for it to work. “ Varian goes over.

“Cookies?” Hugo tilted his head.

“If someone asked you to drink something you did not know, would you take it?” Varian asks.

“Fair. But don’t you have that sticky goo potion. You could use that and force the person to drink it” Hugo wonders.

“Let me ask you. If someone is weirdly always saying the truth, you would ask questions. There is no way for me to drag an adult without people noticing so I couldn’t do that. Plus, the Sundrop could destroy the black rocks so figured it could destroy the amber. But I needed to know for sure, it was in the castle. So, what better way to solve all these problems is to make a bunch of cookies and give them to the town. This way finding out who I was after is much harder. This was dangerous since the rumor made people of Corona hate me. The princess is beloved. No matter how much I begged for help” Varian looks down. Hugo had to admit that was sound logic. Varian was scary smart. Though it was sad that no one helped him. He knew where this was leading, and it could all have been avoided if Varian got help.

“After confirming that the Sundrop was in the palace and that a good portion of Corona had the truth cookies, I went to Rapunzel. I told her the truth that the Sundrop could stop the black rocks. Dad needed help but Rapunzel only cared about Corona like my dad was not part of Corona.” Varian growled. “Sorry. Lost my temper there” he rubs the back of his neck.

“No, you have the right to be angry. Your dad was part of Corona and he was the most in need of help. The princess should not be concerned over one person all the time, but a good ruler should know what areas need the most help.” Hugo explains.

“Thank you. But my anger got me in trouble. Got the princess to steal a book from her dad, went in a secret passage filled with traps. Almost died a few times.” Varian brushes off almost dying again before looking excited “Down there I saw automations. Was hit into a wall by them and almost died again but they were so cool” he sounds like a kid.

“That is amazing. Expect for you almost dying. Please stop brushing those off” Hugo says worriedly.

“That is not what caused me the most trauma.” Varian rolls his eyes. Hugo’s worry was at 100 out of 10. “So, got to the Sundrop which was previously a flower. I grabbed it and started to leave. Me and Rapunzel got into a fight and I stopped pretending. Soon the guards caught on that I was behind the truth thing. They barged in and used a smoke ball to get away.” Varian’s hand shook. “Unfortunately, the flower did not have the Sundrop anymore. Rapunzel did. So, I needed her” he says in a lifeless tone.

“You kidnapped the princess.” Hugo asks. Varian laughs. It was not his normal laugh. It sounded broken.

“The princess was more guarded than anything. So, I needed to lure her to me” Varian continues to brokenly laugh.

“How? Doubt she will be willing to do anything from you after what happened?” Hugo was concerned. 

“Well if you can’t get to someone, go after someone they care about. The king is well guarded, and Eugene is a guard. The queen was the only one who I could go after. But again, I can knock her out. But you try to drag the queen out of the palace. People will stop you. So, I needed to distract the guards plus it had the bonus of hurting some of the guards so not as many came at me in the end” the laughter stopped but Varian still sounded lifeless.

“I hated what I had to do. But I only could count on one to help me.” Varian looks down at Ruddiger. Hugo wondered how Ruddiger could do all of that. “A while before I met the princess, Ruddiger got into some chemical mixture I was about to throw away. I did not think they had an effect, but one did. It made Ruddiger big and monstrous. I promised myself to never make that mixture again but so many promises were broken. I finished the last of my prep and ready myself to kidnap the queen.” he admits. Hugo was in shock.

“The day arrived. It was foggy that night. So, I strike. Ruddiger worked beautifully. I also had automations attack the princess during the day. I was able to sneak in and knock out the queen. Used an automation to carry her out.” Varian explains.

“How did you get the automations from the tunnels to listen to you?” Hugo asked.

“I made them.” Varian admits.

“You saw them once and they were trying to kill you. And you were able to make one yourself?” Hugo’s jaw dropped. Varian just blinks.

“Yeah.” Varian tilts his head. He did not understand how incredible that was. ‘Varian is a genius. Oh god, he was hurt by betrayal before. If he finds out about me, then what will that do to him’ Hugo thinks 

“So, I kidnapped the queen and took her to me home. Figured I had a good while before anyone showed up. The queen tried to get me to stop but did not listen. I knew their every move. The sunk in through a hidden passage. So, I made a life size doll of me, so they thought I was just looking out the window. Meanwhile those outside were faced with my automations. I used that goo to keep the king and princess in place. Threatened the queen and Rapunzel listened to what I said.” Varian sounded disappointed in himself. “But her hair could not break the amber. Soon, Raps was with her family again. They had a nice big family hug. And all I could do is cry next to my dad trapped in amber listening to how happy they are to be back together” he growls. “Stop being angry. It is over” he reminds himself.

“Your actions might not have been the best. But anyone would be angry over that.” Hugo reminds Varian.

“I tried to kill Rapunzel’s parents, Hugo. I wanted her to feel what I did” Varian buries his face in his hands.

“Again. Your actions were wrong, but your feelings are valid. Goggles, what happened to you was not spilling milk. It was serious stuff and you had no one to guide you. Your feelings are valid. Yeah, your actions aren’t excused. But if the adults did their jobs then none of that would have happened” Hugo wraps his arm around Varian.

“You are being so kind, Hugo. Thank you. “ Varian said softly. “That attempted murder charge would have been murder if Rapunzel did not garb onto the black rocks and made them impale the automation I was in” he continues.

“What? How are you still alive?” Hugo looks over Varian. 

“It just barely missed me. I doubt she had full control of the rocks. “ Varian says. “I was sent off to jail. Did not get a trial since the king saw everything himself. So, I was put in a cell with Andrew. Ruddiger was also tossed out since he could help me escape. Through Ruddiger snuck in at night so I was able to see him” he explains. Hugo did not like the no trial thing but the king saw it so there was no point. 

“Andrew?” Hugo questions who that was. 

“He is the leader of the Separatists of Saporia. They are a group of Saporians who want to destroy Corona and make Saporia an independent kingdom again. I did not pay attention to him at first. I was too wrapped up in my emotions. My anger quickly left, and I realized what I did. I wanted to say sorry but after what I did how could I be forgiven. “ Varian sighs. Hugo wanted to say something to comfort Varian but what. He knew what Varian did was serious. He was wondering how Varian was here with the group and not in jail right now. From the way Varian talks, his dad is still around so he knows that Quirin will be free but doesn't know how after the Sundrop thing failed.

“It was by that point, I started to pay attention to my cell mate. I have not talked with anyone but Ruddiger for a few months since the blizzards. Except when I stole the flower of course, but don’t really count the guard and the princess. The guard was literally all questions and I was not a big fan of the princess at that moment. Andrew sort of tricked me” Varian explains.

“You mean manipulate you. You were emotionally vulnerable and made you do things you wouldn’t do” Hugo was already planning on what to do if he ever saw Andrew.

“Well, I already did do things I regretted. Should have known I was being tricked” Varian hits himself. 

“No. Does not matter. He knew you were vulnerable. That means you won’t notice something. Don’t blame yourself for being manipulated.” Hugo grabs Varian’s arm to stop him from hitting himself.

“Andrew said his friends had a way to help me. The wand of Saporia. It could wipe memories.” Varian sighs. Hugo instantly knew what the plan was for Varian. If no one could forgive him then make everyone forget.

“But wouldn’t that be hard on you. Being the only one who remembers what you did. Sure you feel guilty” Hugo wondered.

“Well had the Saporians.” Varian did not look at Hugo.

“You felt like you deserved that feeling, didn’t you?” Hugo realizes. Varian was not joking when he said the blizzard made everything go downhill.

“You have gotten good at reading me” Varian shakes his head. “Anyways, we broke out and wiped the memories of the king and queen. Found out the princess and her friends left the kingdom to follow the rocks. Oh yeah when the princess touched the rocks, they moved to show a path for her to follow. So, she will be gone for a year. In the meanwhile, the wand can’t do many people at once, so I was asked to make a chemical that has the same effect. But it really, they just waited until I got a good explosion so they could destroy Corona.” Varian shakes his head.

“No blaming yourself. They used you. “ Hugo reminds him.

“I found a new element and named it after my dad. I made the king and queen think I was their royal advisor. So, ordered them to order the citizens of Corona to mine the new element. Soon the princess returned, and I kept up the evil act. She was going to forget everything, and we would have been friends again. And from the look you are giving me, I did not feel like I deserved any pity. Nor believed she would believe me. Plus, deep down, I knew that the Saporians would not be happy if I strayed from what they wanted me to do” Varian sighs. Hugo was really seeing why Varian saw himself in that mirror.

“Soon after locking the princess in a jail cell, the Saporians dropped the act and said they wanted to destroy Corona. I actually grew a backbone and was done with them. Unfortunately, I threw a bath bomb down, so they locked me up with the princess. It was very awkward.” Varian rubs the back of his neck. Hugo pushes down a laugh about the bath bomb thing.

“After a talk, we got out and went to stop the Saporians. They were going to drop the barrels of my new element onto the city from blimps up in the air. We were able to knock them out and put them in bubbles. You know I make weird mixtures so don’t look at me like that. The ship was going down, and someone needed to stop it. Only problem is the ship will explode with who is on it. I was willing to sacrifice myself to save Corona” Varian explains.

“Varian, you better not self-sacrifice for us” Hugo warns. Varian chose to remain quiet. ‘Still have some work to do’ Hugo thinks.

“Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but the princess’s hair is like the black rocks so can’t be cut. So, she pushed me off. I forgot about her hair for a second so thought she died. But she lived. I was pardoned and the princess became temporary ruler until I got her parent’s memory back” Varian finishes his villain arc.

“So, is that it? Villain arc over” Hugo asks not thinking where else Varian could go with the story. Varian laughs again.

“Nope. Still have more shit to go through. I have not brought up the blizzard again yet. I am done with being a villain but still have a lot of story left“ Varian shakes his head. Hugo was questioning what more can happen, and he feared the answer.

“Well when Rapunzel came back, there was one person missing. Cass. Turns out, they went off to the Dark Kingdom. To find the moonstone. Turns out my dad’s side of the family was from there. So, I am a first generation Coroaian. “ Varian laughs.

“Wow.” Hugo was impressed. ‘No wonder he was so shocked when he found out his mom was from the Earth Kingdom. ‘ he thinks

“Oh, you will love this. So, my dad is the one who told the king about the Sundrop but warned removing it will cause problems. So, 18 years later, it became a problem. That is why the king wanted to keep this under wraps plus he did not want his daughter to get hurt. And I am the bad guy, when I sacrifice others to save one person” Varian darkly chuckles.

“So, the black rocks were all the king’s fault. Nobles are really shitty but this king of yours is really taking the care” Hugo growls. He could not believe this king. 

“Yeah so Cass stole the moonstone so that she can have the princess’s destiny. Don’t ask, doubt Cass knew what that was. And now Cass wants to destroy Corona.” Varian leans back a bit.

“Anyone else have a villain arc. Also please tell me she had more of a reason for being a villain than destiny. ” Hugo knew that Cass was scary, but she was also a villain.

“Yes. Cass turned out to be adopted by the caption. Her real mom turned out to be the one who kidnaped the princess and the mom left Cass alone and Rapunzel got the mom instead” Varian says.

“Great reason. Victim blaming a kidnap victim. “ Hugo so wanted to bang his head on the wall.

“If there's anything else, I never learned it. That was what she brought up along with destiny. I have heard of their journey to the Dark Kingdom and there were things I could see Cass not wanting to be friends with Rapunzel anymore. But Cass never really brought any of that stuff up. Listen I am just as confused as you” Varian shakes his head. Hugo already did not see Cass in the best light but his opinion of her was slowly going down.

“So, no surprise, the people of Corona still did not like me. They in fact hated me more. The whole making them mine for my new element did not help. The one good thing from Cass’s villain arc is that it made the citizens like me again. There are still some who still don’t forgive me but can’t get everyone. “ Varian continues. Hugo agrees.

“You see there were not just black rocks the moonstone could make. There were these red rocks. They could make you see your worst fear. And if you stayed scared for too long, you would be petrified. It happened to Ruddiger. It was really hard for me” Varian shakes a bit remembering his fear.

“Because your fear happened just recently” Hugo gets what happened.

“Right on the nose. But I pushed through so I could save Corona. I figured I could use that amber mixture to stop the rocks” Varian explains.

“So, you had rocks that showed your fear with the thing that ruined your life. Great combo. Next you will tell me Andrew was where you needed to go?” Hugo rolls his eyes.

“Lucky no Andrew. Just me, the rocks, the potion that ruined my life and Rapunzel. And no Ruddiger to keep me calm. So fun times. Down into a tunnel we went through with only one almost death. Oh, it led to a chamber that Demanitus used. It was so amazing.” Varian geeks out. 

“Wow, that is so cool. You have to take me there when we go to your kingdom” Hugo says.

“I will.” Varian smiles before getting serious again. “Well I am dumb. The mixture only works on black rocks. So, I need to find a black rock. And in luck there was a small bit left. All the way up a device in the chamber. And it was covered in red rocks. Yay” Varian twirls his finger. Hugo was liking this less and less. ‘Can’t Varian have a break’ Hugo thinks. 

“So, me and Rapunzel start to climb up the red rocks. I was at my limit. So, Rapunzel shared her greatest fear, losing Cass as a friend. “ Varian goes over.

“Oh yes. That is equally to what you are feeling. Hey, I almost drowned in the ocean once. Oh yeah, I feel you. I once dropped my cup of water.” Hugo growls “That is her greatest fear” he asks.

“Well she did say she saw Corona destroyed by Cass” Varian says.

“Think she misread that fear. “ Hugo rolls her eyes.

“Rapunzel likes to avoid things that bother her. She lived 18 years in a tower with only Gothel as her way of learning the outside world.” Varian rubs the back of his neck.

“Understandable but hopefully she has learned something. She can’t act like that forever. She may be a princess but that does not mean she is perfect. People need to call her out to help her learn” Hugo shakes his head.

“She is better these days. Anyways back to the story” Varian wants to get off this topic. “So, I found my courage and found the last drop of the mixture onto the black rocks. Soon they were gone. Even though I conquered my fears, still have them” he sighs.

“You conquered once, when lives were in danger. It is brave but that does not mean your fears are gone. I may still bicker with Nuru and I will admit, I do see her as a friend but that does not mean I like all nobles now. “ Hugo says.

“Guess you are right.” Varian sighs.

“Sorry for asking but where have you been living since you got out of jail?” Hugo asks.

“Oh forgot. Sorry. You know how Rapunzel’s hair is unbreakable like the rocks. This is because part of the moonstone powers went over to her. So, she can use the decay incantation. Makes sense. Sundrop heals. Moonstone decays. She used the decay incantation on the amber, so my dad was freed. This was right after I was pardoned. Trust me, it was hard explaining what happened to my dad. Lucky, he understood why I did it. And was happy that I found the path to the light again. He actually said he was proud of me. That was also what the note said as well” Varian smiles.

“Glad he was proud of you, but did he not explain his past in the note. Not like it would have helped but why? “ Hugo asks.

“I guess that would have been good as well. Guess I was caught up in my dad being proud of me” Varian looks down. Hugo felt bad for saying that out loud. It did mean a lot for Varian. It was sad, though.

“So, where was I? Oh, right red rocks were beaten, and I was not called mean names or had rocks thrown at me” Varian snaps his fingers.

“What” Hugo asks. Varian realizes what he said.

“Forgot that. Nothing that bad. I deserved it” Varian sheepishly laughs. 

“No, you didn’t. Throwing rocks at you is too far. I can’t expect them to like you but hurting you is a lot. You are what 15. Did you tell anyone? Wait dumb question. Already know that answer” Hugo rolls his eyes.

“16. And you know me too well” Varian shakes his head. “So, remember that scroll well it was only a piece of the full thing. On the journey to the Dark Kingdom, Rapunzel found the other pieces. It was written by Demanitus but of course it was written in an ancient language, so the princess asked to decode it. I got it in under a month. “ he brags.

“Really. You decoded the language that Demanitus knew. Oh god. You have to teach me” Hugo says excitedly. They two geeked out a bit for a minute before they calmed down.

“It was Eugene’s real birthday day. Oh, turns out he is the prince of the Dark Kingdom. Find it funny a lost prince found the lost princess” Varian laughs. ‘That is why I hated him. Even when he did not know, he had that aura of noble that I hated’ Hugo thinks. “Well turns out the scroll has an incantation that will help Cass have better control of the rocks.”

“So, she attacked you.” Hugo figures.

“I destroyed the key to reading the scroll. But was dumb and said I knew it. So, she knocked me out, kidnaped me, then drugged me with my truth serum so I would be forced to tell her the incantation.” Varian says as Hugo growls. “The incantation made a huge tower made of black rocks. I tried to convince her to stop using my experience but called her a villain. She did not like that” he sighs.

“You said she wanted to destroy Corona. She is not the good guy. She is not even doing good things or has good reasons. I can see you saying you aren’t a villain. Both you had good reasons and you were 14. She has none and is a grown adult.” Hugo growls.

“I knew what I was doing was wrong. I did not deny I was a bad guy but did put the blame on others for making me a bad guy.” Varian admits.

“That is to be expected. I would not mind if she pushed the idea of the princess making her a villain. But in no world but her own, is she not a villain” Hugo huffs.

“Well, she trapped me in a cage and put that cage over the ground from the top of the tower. I soon fell asleep and had a weird dream. You see on the scroll there were three incantations, but it mentioned a fourth. That I could not find it. This dream helped me find the last incarnation.” Varian explains.

“That is weird. How does that work?” Hugo questioned.

“You see, Cass was being manipulated by a demon called Zhan Tiri. She can take many forms. She used a little girl form to again trust.” Varian answered.

“That is creepy.” Hugo shutters. He notices Varian had a dark look in his eyes. “Varian, you okay” he asked.

“Remember how she can take many forms. One form she took was a blizzard.” Varian darkly said. Hugo remembers the blizzard and his mouth dropped.

“So, Zhan Tiri was that blizzard you were in?” Hugo could not believe it, but Varian would not go this crazy for a lie.

“Yes. If that blizzard did not happen, I might not have gone down such a dark past.” Varian growls. Hugo felt sick. That bitch is the reason why Varian’s life went downhill. The foundation of Varian hating himself was there, but it was because of that blizzard, things fell apart. Still need to have a long chat about how Varian’s childhood was not the best but that was for a later date.

“I woke up. The last incantation was on the back written in invisible ink that needs the sun to see it.” Varian explains.

“That is genius. Demanitus did a good job hiding it.” Hugo was impressed.

“I used my goggles at first to get a direct beam of light, but I dropped them. Lucky Eugene and Rapunzel arrived just in time” Varian smiles.

“Good. And they saved you right?” Hugo asks.

“I was in black rocks so couldn’t do anything. But Rapunzel was going to propose to him so she had a ring that I could use. Eugene walked over to where I was. I was able to write the last incantation down before the scroll burned up from the heat.” Varian explains. Hugo was sad at the loss of the scroll, but glad Varian got the last incarnation. “Cass pulls me in with Eugene. She then starts trying to kill Eugene to get Rapunzel to fight. I gave the princess the last incantation. Cass went all out in her attack. It sent a blast causing me and Cass to fall off the edge of the tower” Varian shutters from the memory.

“How fall was the ground?” Hugo asked, wondering how Varian was alive. His fear grew as Varian pointed to a tall tree that was about the same height as the tower.

“Lance, a friend of Eugene, was there. There were these two thief children. Lance became attached to them. So, when I got kidnaped the girls wanted to come with. Lance did not want them to get hurt so tried to keep so he led them around the tower. They reached an area which was lucky enough, Lance was in the right spot to catch me.” Varian wraps his arms around himself.

“So, you are only alive because of luck?” Hugo hated that. Yeah, there is not much that could have been done. But it still hurts.

“That is my life. Still have more to go” Varian sighs. ‘What more can happen?’ Hugo thinks. “Soon me and Eugene made a project obsidian. Since Cass had black rock armor, we needed a weapon. Since Cass proved to not listen, we needed a way to defend ourselves.” Varian sound desperate Hugo wondered what went wrong. He figured it was the amber mixture since that is the only thing that can do something to the black rocks.

“Cass was using a cloak that can change one’s appearance to one of someone else. She turned into one of the maids. She found out her birth mom did not love her so wanted to change people’s view of her” Varian explains.

“Glad she changed, when she found out that if the princess existed or not, her mom would not love. And great, pretend to be someone else to change people’s opinion of her. Did she get found out?” Hugo asks. Varian nods his head.

“The cloak must have caught on something. Well we panicked. I got out project obsidian. Must have been faulty since it fired without me meaning to. She broke free somehow and went back to being a villain” Varian sighs.

“Varian, given the last time you saw her and the fact she was hiding herself, you acted reasonable. That project might have been faulty but even if she did go up to the princess and said sorry and was forgiven. How would she act if people acted the way they did with you after your villain arc? It would have ended the same. She wanted to not face consequences. “ Hugo explains.

“But she was being manipulated?” Varian says.

“Hair stipe, manipulation is based on what a person is willing to do given when they find something out. If I told you x person is a murder so avoid them. And you find out I manipulated you, then while that person might be hurt but it is understandable. But if I said x person is a murder so kill them that means you are okay with killing someone if they are a murder. Cass was a grown woman and was with that Captain. She had a good upbringing. This Zhan Tiri did not raise her. I would excuse that behavior a bit if it was the princess since she was raised in a tower. She only had her mother. So, she had her to learn things from. Cass did not have it. So that means when you first met her, she was okay with things like that. “ Hugo explains. “Plus, if she knew she was being manipulated then she needed to be up front with that and not be shady.” he continues.

“That makes sense. But still hurts” Varian leans against Hugo. “Cass took over the palace and everyone was forced to flee. There was something called the mind trap. It is used to mind control the Brotherhood, a group of knights from the Dark Kingdom meant to protect the moonstone. Cass had it.” he continues. Hugo felt like he knew where this was going. “My dad was in the Brotherhood. I tried to not think about it, but Eugene brought it up. I was mad at first, but I knew he was right. Meanwhile, I was learning about the device Demanitus made to seal Zhan Tiri away. It was crazy” Varian continues. Cass was on top of Hugo’s shit list. 

“Had to fight your dad?” Hugo asks.

“No. I modified his helmet that would shock if he attacked” Varian sounded so small. Hugo knows how much Varian’s dad meant to him. So, to do that, must have been so hard.

“Not like it mattered. Hamuel, Eugene’s dad’s bird, flew into the lever that turned on the machine and everyone in the room. We all went to another dimension. Oh, remember you wanted to know why I act weird around snakes. In this other dimension, my hair stiped turned into a snake that could talk.” Varian points to his hair stripe. Hugo did wonder about that, but he did not think that was the reason. Hugo started to laugh.

“Oh, that is too good. Wish I could have seen that. “ Hugo wipes a tear from his eye. Varian just glared at him. Hugo wisely stopped laughing.

“Almost done.” Varian rubs his hands. “We got out after who knows how long, Zhan Tiri got the Sundrop and the moonstone. She was in her demon form. I gave Ruddiger some big potion and rode on him to attack her. Along with citizens of Corona. Zhan Tiri made these gold rocks, no idea if they had an additional effect like the red rocks. She soon said the decay incantation. With Rapunzel, it was not as strong since she only had a small part of the power. Zhan Tiri had all the power. So, I was slowly dying along with all of Corona. Passed out or died, don’t know which. But woke up and the day was saved. Cass was good again. And Dad said sorry. The end” he finishes the long story.

“Wait. What happened with Cass? Know she is out now but what punishment did she face?” Hugo asked.

“None. She left to find herself.” Varian answered.

“And how did the citizens feel about that?” Hugo asked. Varian face fall.

“They were not happy but since Cass was not there and they did not want to complain to the princess. They just sucked it up. But jail did nothing for me. And I don’t want Cass to be in jail” Varian explains.

“And that is the problem. Cass chased people out of their homes, who knows how much damage she did to the buildings. I do hate how the citizens treated you, but they had a right to fear you. When I first joined the group, you had a right to be wary of me given what happened last time we saw each other. Plus, I think that reason was bs. She did not want to face people hating her for good reasons. She is running away from consequences. “ Hugo rolls his eyes.

“But Cass died. Don’t know how but she was dead. Raps had to use the combined Sundrop and Moonstone to bring her back. Think it healed everyone else as well.” Varian says.

“That does not mean the damage done is forgiven. If someone killed your dad but then killed themselves, would you forgive them? Know Cass did not kill someone, unless you left that part out but did try to. And other crimes. Yeah maybe not jail but just running off does not look good. To me it says, “Oh I am friends with princess, so I get to do as I please”. I know you got pardoned but you worked to get people to like you. You knew people would not forgive you off the bat while Cass did not.” Hugo explains.

“Just please, if we run into her again. Please be civil” Varian begs. Hugo did not want to, but he could not say no to Varian.

“I will be as civil as I can be.” Hugo says. Varian soon yawns and Hugo feels tired as well. He looks up and sees the sun is rising.

“Man, that was a long story. Did not mean to take up our whole night” Varian rubs the back of his neck. 

“It is okay. Glad you were able to talk. Do you feel better?” Hugo asks, pushing a strand of hair out of Varian’s face.

“Much. Never told anyone all of that. Told dad about the villain thing but nothing else.” Varian smiles.

“I can see why you saw yourself in that mirror. You had to deal with so much and did not get much help. What happened after you were kidnaped? Did you have help for that when you got back?” Hugo asked

“It was Eugene’s birthday. I had no obvious injuries. I just quickly made the antidote for the truth serum. Then went to have another party for Eugene since the last one got ruined by Cass” Varian explains.

“Obvious injuries. How much truth serum did you have?” Hugo demands.

“A whole vial. Only like three drops at most are needed if not in something.” Varian admits.

“That is dangerous. If you were this thin back then, that would at least damage your inside and at worst could kill you. “ Hugo fights back the urge to growl. “You have been treated horribly that you hate yourself.” he says

“I don’t know if that reflection changed?” Varian said.

“Won’t know unless we go back. And doubt after one talk, things will change. It will take time. But I hope with the help of me and the others, you will find there is so much more to you.” Hugo smiles.

“Thank you, Hugo” Varian smiles back. “I am tired. So, I am going to the bathroom then going back to bed” he gets up and starts to walk away from the campsite. Soon out comes Nuru and Yong from the same tent, looking like they did not sleep.

“You guys heard.” Hugo sighs. The two nod.

“Heard the yelling. Faked being asleep.” Yong says.

“Man, Varian has quite the past” Nuru shakes her head.

“Best go back to your tents. Don’t want Varian to see you” Hugo says hearing Varian walking back. The two nod and went back inside their tent,

“Night or morning Hugo” Varian yawns as he goes into his tent.

Hugo watched. After hearing Varian’s past, his thoughts on him changed. He heard how Varian struggled. How he went through jail. How he had no one. But still Varian has his big heart. No matter what happened to him, his kindness was still there and had no wavered it seemed. Hugo admired that.

Meanwhile in Varian’s tent, Varian’s thoughts on Hugo started to change. Hugo is a cocky bastard but there is more to him. Varian has seen bits of his nicer side. But he always had his guard up, but tonight his guard was down. And Varian saw the other side to Hugo. He was kind and very reassuring. He understood what was going on and listened. 

In these two, a seed is planted. Over the rest of the journey, this seed will grow into a crush and bloom into love. 

[ https:// www. instagram. com / p / B_nSsFeFlQn /? igshid =u sn52kpy3jlu ](https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nSsFeFlQn/?igshid=usn52kpy3jlu)

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> the link will take you to the comic


End file.
